Whitetail Deer Hunting Equipment Peoria IL

Local resource for whitetail deer hunting equipment in Peoria. Includes detailed information on local businesses that provide access to deer hunting gears, deer hunting scents, deer hunting supplies, deer hunting rifles, and bowhunting equipment, as well as advice and content on deer hunting.

Western Whitetailed Deer Hunting

White-tailed deer hunting in the West is really no longer a novelty, as whitetails have expanded their range throughout most of the major river drainages in the plains since the 1950s. Along many of those drainages, whitetails now outnumber mule deer. It’s difficult to recommend hunting river bottom whitetails to anyone coming from the east, as it really doesn’t differ much from what you probably already have at home. And the tags will cost you a lot more, and it’s almost exclusively a private land operation throughout the plains. However, the west does have a few unique whitetail hunts on public lands, and that’s what I’m going to get into here today.

This is one of my favorite hunts, and one that I return to frequently. The real treat in this area is the high deer densities that I generally don’t get to experience throughout the rest of the West. These whitetails are primarily of larger Dakota subspecies, Odocoileus virginianus dakotensis. You’re looking at something on the order of 30ish deer per square mile when you include mule deer into the mix. Even if you exclude the mule deer, there is something close to 20 whitetails per square mile. While that may be nothing to the eastern hunter, much of this region is public land and easily huntable, creating an appealing hunt to guys like me who like a target rich environment on public land.

The Black Hills National Forest and Nebraska National Forest make up most of your public land opportunity here. These are primarily Ponderosa Pine forests, in rolling hills, with several areas offering over 1,000 feet of elevation difference within a mile. The Ponderosas are rarely so dense that shots over 100 yards would be difficult, and visibility in the woods can be several hundred yards. There are numerous openings, and combined with the elevation differences, it’s not uncommon to find a few points where you can see for several miles. The pine forests are bisected by many small drainages with denser vegetation.

Wyoming and South Dakota operate on a draw system, but Nebraska uses a first come-first served quota system for administering tags. The regular Nebraska firearm season is relatively short, at just 9 days in mid November, so this can be a high pressure hunt, especially on the opening weekend. If you prefer to hunt during a lower pressure season, there is a muzzleloader season that makes up the whole month of December and there is no cap on the tags. Both Wyoming and South Dakota offer a rifle hunt that covers the whole month of November, so in any of the three states you can get in on a rut hunt.

Big Woods Whitetails: Idaho, Montana and Washington

Northeastern Washington, Northern Idaho and Northwestern Montana are home to one of the better kept secrets in deer hunting opportunities. These sta...